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Funky Little Theater Company reveals season lineup

On Saturday, Aug. 20, Funky Little Theater Company announced its third season. Though Men of Steel, which is currently on stage and will run through Aug. 27, is technically the first show of “Chapter Three,” the company managed to keep the second production of the season a secret until the announcement. It has been in rehearsals for about three weeks.

Trash, which is the title of the play and not an early review, is billed as “a funny, highly inappropriate, most likely offensive, not your mama’s comedy.” It will be directed by Jeremiah Miller, featuring performances by Ellen Regina, Sallie Walker, Chad Orr, Chelsie Rigor and Chris Medina.

The plot follows a former Hollywood starlet who now lives in a trailer with her family. A blogger tracks her down for an interview, but her kids assume that, since he’s from California, he’s a producer. They try to pitch a movie idea to him “and hilarity ensues,” according to stage manager Lucas Schoenemann.

Artistic Director Chris Medina says “Every rehearsal we just laugh and laugh and laugh, probably because of how inappropriate it is.”

Performances begin Sept. 9 and run Thursdays through Saturdays through Sept. 24. The playwright, Johnny Drago, will be visiting for closing weekend to do talk-backs.

Post-Trash, here’s what the company has coming up:

Oct. 15 and March 25, 24SEVEN/Afterdark: Pulling short plays from previous 24SEVEN events and creating a few new ones, cast members enjoy some adult beverages after their performance, then do it all over again to see if inebriation changes anything. Judging by previous events, it absolutely does.

Oct. 28-Nov. 12, The Bold, The Young and The Murdered by Don Zolidis: Funky’s Halloween production follows a cast of warring soap opera stars as they attempt to produce one last episode to save their show. “Essentially shit’s on the line and they start dropping dead,” Medina says.

Dec. 2-17, The Nerd by Larry Shue: Rather than doing a classic Christmas show, Funky will present this comedy about “an architect stuck in a rut and facing a milestone birthday, whose life is suddenly, hilariously upended by the unexpected appearance of an old army buddy.”

Jan. 9 and July 15, 24SEVEN: Reprising the favorite one-day play festival in which seven playwrights, seven directors and 24 actors bring seven short plays to live within 24 hours.

Jan. 20-Feb. 4, [Record] [Transfer] [Erase] by Jeremiah Miller: This world premiere written by company member Jeremiah Miller is a retro-sci-fi drama. In a dystopian world, adults’ eyes are removed and replaced with recording devices so the government can view video (on true retro VHS tapes) of everything a person does. The main character has her own reasons for not wanting to undergo the procedure.

March 3-18, Spectrum: The second edition of Funky’s now-annual LGBTQ play festival, which received 269 submissions nationally last season and produced eight world premieres.

April 7-22, TBA: Though Funky original planned to stage Tennessee Williams’ classic Sweet Bird of Youth, the show has been cancelled and will be replaced. See here for updates.

May 17-June 3, Extremities: Ending on an intense note, the closing show of Funky’s season is about an attempted rape, a woman turning the tables on her attacker and the moral gray area between punishing an attempted crime and the crime itself.

Auditions will be held in two rounds, one in fall and one in spring.

Fall auditions for The Nerd and [Record] [Transfer] [Erase] will be held Sept. 25, 2-4 p.m. and Sept. 26, 5-8 p.m.

Spring auditions for the rest of the season will likely be held Feb. 4-5. See future listings for details.